Golfers save housekeeper from stabbing attack

A day of golfing for Roger Holt and his son ended when the two men stopped a lovesick employer from stabbing his housekeeper to death, police said.

Roger Holt and his 22-year-old son Kevin were teeing off on the 10th hole Sunday afternoon when they saw a scuffle between a man and woman turn violent, according to a Holly Hill police report.

Across the street from the Riviera Golf and County Club, they could see Michael Anselmo, 64, with a kitchen knife in his hand grabbing on to 47-year-old Deidra Nightingale, who was bleeding from a stab wound in her abdomen, they told investigators.

Both Ormond Beach men jumped in their golf cart and Kevin rushed toward Anselmo with a golf club, ordering him to step away and get on the ground or risk getting walloped by the seven iron.

"We didn't hesitate to go help," said Roger Holt, 56. "We just did what came natural to us."

After a few tense moments staring each other down and wondering who would make the next move, Anselmo dropped the knife and got down, he said.

Roger Holt kept Anselmo away while Kevin, an Army medic home for a surprise Father's Day visit, walked Nightingale away to a flat area and applied pressure to her injury.

At the hospital, Nightingale told investigators Anselmo attacked her because she rejected his romantic advances.

After working as his housekeeper for almost a decade, she said had made it clear to Anselmo that she wasn't interested and had rebuffed many of his offers.

But on Sunday, Anselmo couldn't take no for an answer. When he made a pass, Nightingale left the home at on South Center St. and walked down the street.

Anselmo yelled for her to come back, ran outside and attacked Nightingale, grabbing her by the throat. He forced her to the ground and went inside his house to fetch a 6-inch knife, police said.

Nightingale said Anselmo stabbed her once and then tried to slash her throat.

"All I could think about was 'We have to save this woman, we have to save this woman,'" said Roger Holt, who also served in the Army and currently works for Florida Hospital.

In the days since Anselmo's arrest, Holt said he and his son have poured over every detail of that day, noting how differently things could have ended.

"Time stood still and you remember certain things. We talked about what could've happened if we hadn't had the gulf club or if he tried to stab us," he said. "We replayed it all and now, we believe it was all God's plan that it was set up that way."

The father and son said they plan to hit the links one more time before Kevin has to return to duty next week.